Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 12, 1973
Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, June 12, 1973
[00.58.54] On the 5th of April, having in mind the change in the law that would take place in the next day or so, Andreas, in Florida, called Dahlberg in Minnesota and said: I still have that money. I would like to give it to you before the change in the law; can you pick it up? And Dahlberg said: I cannot get down there before the 7th. I will get down there on the 7th and arrange it to pick it up. Andreas said: Well, I want the contribution to be made now, made effective now. So I will put it in an envelope in your name and put in the safe deposit box in the hotel in your name. You can pick it up whenever you are ready, but I want the understanding between you and me that title has passed and it is your money and you accept it as of today. Dahlberg said, "I do," and called me and relayed the transaction, and I advised him on the basis of legal advice that I had already received that a commitment of that nature was properly a contribution before April 7 and when received would not, have to be reported. On April 7, Dahlberg went to the hotel in Florida but arrived too late to pick up the money because the safe deposit box had been closed. He talked to Andreas on the 8th and arranged for the two to get together on the 9th, and at Dahlberg's request, Andreas took the money out of the safe deposit box and delivered it to Dahlberg on the 9th. On the 10th, Dahlberg bought a cashier's check for that because he did not want to carry that amount of money around with him from Florida to Washington, where he was due on the 11th for a meeting of all of our State finance people on our committee. On the, 11th, at an intermission in the meeting, Dahlberg endorsed the check and handed it, to me, with the explanation that "This is the money from Andreas." And I had a full accounting of the sequence of the transaction up to that, date. I thereupon, the same day, as quickly as possible, gave the, check to the, treasurer, explained to him the background that this was money that had been. contributed before the 7th, and asked him to determine the accounting handling of the check. The treasurer, not being sure, discussed it with the general counsel for the committee and the general counsel suggested that he take the check and convert it into cash. The treasurer gave him the check Now, again, I can report what the treasurer has said, that he did not get the proceeds of the check back until some time in "May. He received them in full and they were deposited in a bank account on May 25. Now, as to those two transactions and several others in a similar category we treated that as cash on hand on April 7 and reported it in the report of the media Committee To Re-Elect the President, in the, amount of $50,000, and that exact amount of $350,000 was deposited in that committee's bank account, on May 25. We, felt that we had complied with every requirement of the law as to the handling and reporting of That money; we had accounted for it fully. The General Accounting Office subsequently cited our committee for a, possible violation of the law in failing to report the $25,000. But the Department of Justice, in a letter some months later, concluded that there was no violation of the law in the handling of that transaction. Mr. EDMISTEN. Mr. Stans, when was the, first time that, you learned that these checks had cleared through a bank account? Mr. STANS. -It was well after the Watergate event of June 17, Mr. EDMISTEN. Now, shortly after that, did you have any discussion with Mr. John Mitchell or anyone at the White House concerning any of these checks during the week following? Mr. STANS. I don't recall any specific conversation with John Mitchell, but do recall a conversation with Fred LaRue and subsequently with Robert Mardian. Mr. EDMISTEN. What did you talk about? Mr. STANS. As I recall it, it, was the morning of the 23d of June---- [01.04.12--TAPE OUT]